Reviews

‘Margaret Bennett has given us another magic book . . . an invaluable contribution’

Owen Dudley Edwards

There can be few scholars on either side of the Atlantic who succeed in combining such a wide range of skills . . . she has to her credit an enviable record of solid ethnological scholarship'

Hamish Henderson

About the Book

A highly readable and absorbing anthology of traditional Scottish customs and rites of passage, Scottish Customs from the Cradle to the Grave draws upon a broad range of literary and oral sources. Scotland has been fortunate to have written accounts of intrepid early travellers such as Martin Martin, Edward Burt and John Lane Buchanan, and extracts from their writing are found alongside modern interviews made by Margaret Bennett and researchers from the School of Scottish Studies at Edinburgh University. This expanded edition includes a large amount of new material. The result is a detailed and comprehensive picture of social behaviour in Scotland over the last 400 years. The book is divided into three sections, each covering a stage in the cycle of life: Childbirth and infancy; Love, courtship and marriage; Death The first edition was originally published by Polygon and was joint runner-up of the 1993 Katharine Briggs Folklore Award.

The Author

Margaret Bennett is an international scholar, prize-winning author, singer and broadcaster who is widely regarded as Scotland’s foremost authority on Folklore. In 2003 she received the Celtic Women International Award for her lifelong service to Scottish and Celtic Culture.

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